a right supposedly guaranteed by both federal and many state laws against any discrimination in employment, education, housing or credit rights due to a person's race, color, sex (or sometimes sexual orientation), religion, national origin, age or handicap.

Equality of Outcome

Black Codes

were unofficial laws put in place in the United States with the effect of limiting the basic human rights and civil libertiesof blacks.

Civil Rights Cases (1883)

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

s a landmark United States Supreme Court decision in the jurisprudence of the United States, upholding the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in private businesses (particularly railroads), under the doctrine of "separate but equal"

NAACP & NAACP Legal Defense Fund

n 1940 the organization formerly known as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and now called the NAACP launched the Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF). Since its founding, the organization has been involved in more cases before the U.S. Supreme Court than any other nongovernmental organization.

Sweatt v. Painter (1950)

was a U.S. Supreme Court case that successfully proved lack of equality, in favor of a black applicant, the "separate but equal" doctrine of racial segregation established by the 1896 case Plessy v. Ferguson.

Brown v. Board of Education I (1954)

was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which allowed state-sponsored segregation.

Brown v. Board of Education II (1955)

Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)

is a case in which the United States Supreme Court upheld the affirmative action admissions policy of the University of Michigan Law School. The 5-4 decision was announced on June 23, 2003.

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)

was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States on the permissible scopefactors in an admissions program, but only for the purpose of improving the learning environment through diversity in accordance with the university's constitutionally protected First Amendment right to Academic Freedom (at page 311-315 of the opinion.)

Events Leading to Brown

De Jure Discrimination

It is discrimination enforced by law. The best example was the segregated water fountains, restrooms and hotels in the Southern states prior to the 1960's.Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/De_jure_discrimination_is#ixzz1JiC78YUy

De Facto Discrimination

and de facto discrimination is discrimination not based on law.

DE Facto ( in fact )

Affirmative Action

refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender , or national origin"[1] into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination. The focus of such policies ranges from employment and education to public contracting and health programs.

Loving v. Virginia (1967)

was a landmark civil rights case in which the United States Supreme Court, by a 9-0 vote, declared Virginia's anti-miscegenation statute, the "Racial Integrity Act of 1924", unconstitutional, thereby overturning Pace v. Alabama(1883) and ending all race-based legal restrictions on marriage in the United States.

Sex discrimination also can involve treating someone less favorably because of his or her connection with an organization or group that is generally associated with people of a certain sex.

Strict Scrutiny Standard

ased on the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Federal courts use strict scrutiny to determine whether certain types of government policies are constitutional

Undue Burden Test

is a constitutional test to decide the constitutionality of particular law. State regulations affecting undue burdens are regulated by the courts under the test.

Gratz v. Bollinger (2003)

was a United States Supreme Court case regarding the University of Michigan undergraduateaffirmative action admissions policy. In a 6–3 decision announced on June 23, 2003, the Supreme Court ruled the university's point system (which automatically awarded points to underrepresented ethnic groups) was too mechanistic in its use of race as a factor in admissions, and was therefore unconstitutional.